The invention relates to a guide member for a liquid jet flowing out of a container to be deflected onto a target located below the container. It also relates to counter-flow columns with liquid distributors in which the liquid flows off via guide members and to uses of apparatuses which contain guide members and which can be used for processes in the chemical industry and in petrochemistry and/or for example for decompositions of gas mixtures, in particular for distillation, reactive distillation, absorption or extraction, with material and heat exchange processes as well as chemical reactions taking place or with it being possible for them to take place.
In a counter-flow column in which for example a distillative material separation is carried out by means of an ordered packing, a gas can flow upwards through the packing with a high speed. In the use of unsuitable liquid distributors the rapidly flowing gas separates off fine drops from the distributor and carries the former along with it. The liquid to be distributed therefore does not arrive onto the packing without losses. From EP 0 282 753 a liquid distributor is known in which liquid emerges from outlet openings of distributor troughs and is incident in jet form on baffle plates of guide members (called guide walls there). The liquid arrives in the guide member with a relatively high speed onto the baffle plate, is distributed on the latter as a parabolic film and then flows from a drip-off edge onto the packing. A plurality of parallel distributor troughs subdivides the gas which flows upward out of the packing into a plurality of partial flows, between which back pressure zones develop. The drip-off edges of the guide members are arranged beneath the distributor troughs within the back pressure zones of the gas flow. It is thereby largely prevented that droplets are taken along by the gas flow,
A disadvantage of the known guide members is that they relatively strongly narrow the cross-sectional area which is available between the distributor troughs for the transport of the gas and that they thus cause an increase in the pressure loss which is connected with the narrowing.
It is an object of the invention to create a guide member by means of which after flowing out of a container the liquid can be deflected onto a target which is arranged below the container and by means of whichxe2x80x94in comparison with the known guide memberxe2x80x94a greater proportion of the cross-section is available for the gas transport. In this it must be ensured at the same time that no squirts arise which can be carried along by the gas flow. With the enlargement of the cross-section which is available for the gas transport the flow speed is also reduced, which additionally reduces the danger of carrying liquid droplets along. At the same time the guide member of the invention enables very large amounts of liquid to be carried out without back pressure effects arising.
The guide member in accordance with the invention for a liquid jet to be deflected allows a liquid after flowing out of a container to be deflected onto a target which is located below the container. The deflecting takes place by means of a shaped material plate which is arranged ahead of an outlet opening of the container and which reshapes and further conducts the jet in such a manner that the liquid is conveyed to the target at a lower end of the shaped material plate. At the location ahead of the outlet opening where the liquid jet is incident onto the shaped material plate, a first and a second piece of surface of the material plate form a mouth region in which the first piece of surface deflects the liquid transversely with respect to the vertical, whereas the second piece of surface is provided as a catcher for squirts. The first piece of surface merges into a channel in which the liquid is guided downwards. In this the wall of the second piece of surface divides the channel off from the mouth region. In modified form the guide member can also be assembled from a plurality of shaped material plates.
The guide member can also be used for column bases which are located between filler body sections of a column packing. In these column bases a liquid collectorxe2x80x94for example a flue base collectorxe2x80x94has at the same time the function of a liquid distributor. The guide members in accordance with the invention can be arranged in the interior of gas conducting flues ahead of outflow holes which are located in vertical flue walls.
The present invention includes advantageous embodiments of the guide member, counter-flow columns with such guide members, and columns and apparatuses which use such guide members.
In the following the invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.